It is well known for athletes to wear a mouthguard to protect their teeth from sharp blows and to protect the head and temporomandibular joint from concussion. Mouthguards are commonly worn in football, hockey, soccer, rugby, etc. There is also a need for athletes to wear mouthguard-type appliances to prevent the clenching of their teeth during physical exertion. Clenching can result in headaches, muscle spasms, damage to the teeth, and injury to the temporomandibular joint as well as pain in the jaw.
Dental mouthguards have been made from ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) which can degrade due to use and will become deformed and decompose over time. There is also known the use of a low density polyethylene polymer preferably combined with a tactifier resin such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,820,623 issued to Cook. The present inventor has also previously devised a two-piece mouthguard composed of separate pieces of flat, cushioning material made from polyolefin foam as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,523. The disadvantage of this mouthguard is its required assembly which is inherently more complex than a single piece mouthguard.
There is therefore a need in the art for a single piece mouthguard composed of a soft cushioning material which provides effective protection and which is so economical to produce, it could be utilized as a one use, sanitary disposable device.